What Virtue There Is in Fire: Cultural Memory and the Lynching of Sam Hose

265 Pages·2008·3.04 MB·English

by  Edwin T. Arnold

“What Virtue There Is in Fire”
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“What Virtue There Is in Fire”
Cultural Memory and
the Lynching of Sam Hose
Edwin T. Arnold
The University of Georgia Press
Athens and London
Publication of this book was supported in part by the
Kenneth Coleman Series in Georgia History and Culture.
© 2009 by the University of Georgia Press
Athens, Georgia 30602
www.ugapress.org
All rights reserved
Set in Ehrhardt by Graphic Composition, Inc.
Printed and bound by Maple-Vail
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for
permanence and durability of the Committee on
Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the
Council on Library Resources.
Printed in the United States of America
13 12 11 10 09 C 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress C ataloging-i n-P ublication Data
Arnold, Edwin T.
“What virtue there is in fi re” : cultural memory and the
lynching of Sam Hose / Edwin T. Arnold.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn-13: 978-0-8203-2891-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
isbn-10: 0-8203-2891-x (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Hose, Sam, d. 1899. 2. Coweta County (Ga.)—Race relations—History.
3. Lynching—Georgia—Coweta County—History—19th century.
4. African Americans—Crimes against—Georgia—Coweta County—History.
5. Murder—Georgia—Coweta County—History—19th century.
6. Racism—Georgia—Coweta County—History.
7. Hose, Sam, d. 1899—Infl uence. I. Title.
f292.c8a765 2009
323.1196'0730758—dc22 2008050471
British Library C ataloging-i n-P ublication Data available
For my granddaughters, Caroline Shade and Ashleigh Merrow
Sistren an’ brethren,
Stop foolin’ wid pray,
Sistren an’ brethren,
Stop foolin’ wid pray.
When black face is lifted,
Lord turn in’ way.
Yo’ head tain’ no apple
Fo danglin’ from a tree,
Yo’ head tain’ no apple
Fo danglin’ from a tree,
Yo’ body no carcass
for barbacuin’ on a spree.
—“Sistren an’ Brethren,” song collected
by Lawrence Gellert in the 1930s
The monster fi end of all the fi ends
That ever cursed the earth;
The blackest devil of all his kind—
A devil from his birth!
Then boldly say, “We’ve done no wrong
To burn the monster at the stake;”
But join in peans [sic] and in song
For all that’s dear—for woman’s sake.
—“Sam Holt,” poem published in the
NEWNAN HERALD AND ADVERTISER, May 12, 1899
Let us try what virtue there is in fi re.
—“AN EYE FOR AN EYE”; OR THE FIEND
AND THE FAGOT
Contents
1 Introduction
12 chapter one
War Fantasies
30 chapter two
Lynch Sunday
47 chapter three
The Palmetto Massacre
67 chapter four
A Carnival of Blood and Lust
89 chapter five
The Wild Ride
98 chapter six
A Holocaust of Human Flesh
122 chapter seven
Beware, All Darkies!
151 chapter eight
Lynch Law in Georgia
170 chapter nine
Sex, Fingers, Toes
184 chapter ten
Across the Road from the Barbecue House
203 Coda
209 Notes
235 Index
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“What Virtue There Is in Fire”